Set Your Brain for Motivation to Lose Weight

Commitment! Commitment is one of those traits that we as trainers look and hope for in clients as they in the door.

Commitment can be intrinsic where you, as a client, has a goal that is so intense that there is no option other than to achieve that goal. This is typically how clients start out. They come in committed, they start to get results and then the self-sabotage kicks in.

Our brain is a truly wonderful thing, capable of the most extraordinary possibilities. However it can also kid us in to bad old ways!

Clients begin to get comfortable, to listen to the old stories in their head. Stories of “I’m not deserving”, stories of “I’m addicted to sugar“, stories of “this is how I’ve always been, this is just me”. All these stories are lies, but we tell ourselves these lies consistently whether it is consciously or subconsciously.

These thoughts become our belief system and then our belief system become part of our identity.

For example, when I first came here from Ireland, people almost expected me to be drunk. Seriously! Me, being the type of person that must please everyone, would oblige most of the time. “Oh, he’s Irish, he must love to drink”. Living up to the hype became part of my belief system about myself and inevitably my identity.

I couldn’t say “No” and it got me in a lot of trouble.

Now I can go out and have a beer and be OK. I can say no to shots because I’ve changed my thought patterns, my beliefs about myself and now it’s not part of my identity. My identity now is helping people through fitness.

Then we have extrinsic factors that help us be committed

That’s where we come in as trainers. We can offer advice, we can set up challenges, we can check in on you in the form of accountability and as you get results you can gain momentum and confidence in your ability to reach your goal.

The key here is to ensure you don’t get comfortable. When you get comfortable you will start to slide that slippery slope and it’s hard to stop once you’re on there.

This is where standards come in. What are the standards you hold yourself to and what are the standards you want your trainer to hold you to?

Do you just want to show up and train? Do you want help with nutrition? Do you want homework? Do you want mindset coaching? Do you want all four? And when you receive this help and knowledge will you maximize it?

These are questions you should ask yourself.

How does this relate to you?

When you set a goal for yourself, do you truly believe you can accomplish it? Is it that important to you? Are you willing to sacrifice to achieve it or are you just showing up to sessions thinking you can out-train a bad diet?

Are you showing up late? Are you cancelling sessions every week and not making them up? Are you pushing yourself to do more weight, more reps even when nobody is watching? Are you doing your homework (mobility, eating well, tracking food, stretching etc?). Are you asking questions and asking for accountability?

If you are not doing these things, are you truly committed to reaching your goal? The reason I ask goes back to the stories you’re telling yourself.

The thoughts that we consistently think create our belief system and those beliefs become part of our identity. To create lasting change, you must change the story in your head, change the habits that are holding you back. When you do this, your identity will change and we tend to act consistently with our identity as I illustrated earlier.

Conclusion

The moral of the story is to ask yourself these difficult questions. If your answers don’t line up with your goal, burn them and write the answers that will help you succeed.

Just like the phoenix, you must burn the old version of yourself to ashes in order for the new you to rise!

About the Expert

Michael is a strength coach who specializes in functional strength, fat loss and athletic performance.
He has a degree in Kinesiology, is CSCS certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and Certified K-12 P.E and Health in Missouri.
Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Michael moved to St Louis in 2002 to play soccer and now co-owns his own functional training facility called Defining Natural Ability (DNA).
He believes when it comes to a healthy lifestyle it is a mind, body and spirit commitment to become the best version of yourself.
If you have any questions or concerns comment below or email me

and I’ll get back to you.
You can also set up an appointment for 2 Complimentary sessions at DNA.